In the Name of Enlightenment - Sexual Abuse by Sogyal Rinpoche

[Apech]

Zen sex scandals discussion

 

Quote

Shozan Jack Haubner, the pen name of a Zen monk, went to the monastery in search of wisdom—and left in the wake of a sex scandal. He was one of Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s main caretakers in the years before he died in 2014, when the Rinzai Zen teacher was facing a spate of sexual abuse allegations from students. In Haubner’s new book, Single White Monk: Tales of Death, Failure, and Bad Sex (Although Not Necessarily in that Order), he works through that scandal’s fallout—and, as the subtitle suggests, various other themes that come up in the life a Zen monk—with his characteristic blend of candor and humor.

 

[C T]

A Vajrayana master will impose Tibetan culture on an Israeli student, even though that culture means nothing to the Israeli. Of course, if an enlightened master enforces Tibetan dress, Tibetan food, and Tibetan ways of thinking, and this really crushes the Israeli ego and habits, it can be taken as an enlightened method. But ultimately, if the Dharma is to be established outside Tibet, culture and habits must communicate. Culture is not what is being transferred; it’s not the point. If you are Israeli, no matter how fully devoted to your Tibetan master you are, the chance of you becoming a Tibetan in this life is zero, whereas tapping into your buddha nature and applying appropriate methods for waking yourself up from delusion and reaching enlightenment are very possible.

 

There is no right and wrong here. You cannot say outright that cultural trappings don’t work at all. For centuries, the Tibetans had never seen a lotus flower. There are no lotuses in Tibet; the idea was imported from Indian culture. The only thing they knew was that the lotus grows in mud, yet they painted lotuses and visualized lotuses. They were and are such a big symbol.

The same is true of the wish-fulfilling cow. There were no cows in Tibet in those days. Cultural images and icons have their purpose. They are definitely not the Dharma, but they can serve to communicate it. (Dzongsar K. Rinpoche)

 

 

Just something to ponder over. 

[Chang]

I am somewhat surprised to see that this thread is still going strong and can but put this down to the salacious nature of the subject matter.

 

Whilst i previously promised Apech that I would comment no more, recent posts have spurred me on to leap once more into the fray.

 

Sogyal Rinpoche cuts a rather sad and miserable figure who, in his role as buddhist adept, proved to have feet of clay.

 

I can see the grounds for Wells argument as the women concerned were not coerced into sexual activity with the llama by fear or force but would appear to have been "willing" victims. My own view is that even though they may have been willing they were still very much victims.

 

So we may call them weak, stupid and misguided as much as we like and state that they were as much at fault as Sogyal Rinpoche but the fact remains that he has acted inapproptiately at the very least.

 

As has been pointed out the warning signs were there for all to see - the guru surrounded by nubile female devotees, but people see what they want to see and the girls in question saw a man they believed to be enlightened and who could lead them on the path. Unfortunately they were led down the garden path and it has all ended in tears.

 

Buddhism may well lend itself to this sort of behaviour with its history of Tantric practice but other religions are hardly free from the scandal of authority figures acting in a sexually inapproprite manner.

 

As to whether Sogyal, in his role as Buddhist adept, has done more harm than good in this incarnation? Well that can go before a higher court. We must also not lose sight of the other Buddhists who were assisting him with his teaching. By turning a blind eye they were arguably as much at fault as their master. It is all an unholy mess and serves as a reminder that those searching for enlightenment must first hold onto any common sense that they already possess.

[C T]

Very sensible feedback, Chang. 

 

Its all down to human weakness, on every side.

We frequently hear of people with power and influence, across all professions and social strata misusing and abusing their position (in fact there's a current media blitz going on in this regard), and religious leaders, sadly, are not removed from such unwholesome deeds, though one would think this is the group that will least likely to act in ways that will actually undermine ethical and moral responsibilities, but its not something that is unheard of, so there is still a degree of ignorance placed on the side of the 'victims'. I have had tantric encounters before, but never once did the question of improprietiness enter the picture. It was all very upfront, matter of fact, and no lust attached on both sides. Just mature, consenting adults exploring mutually beneficial esoteric practices with the full understanding that either party may terminate the 'agreement' at any time. 

[Apech]

I think also Chang makes some important points - and by the way you don't have to promise me to either post or not post you are free to do either (as I sure you know  ).

 

One question I think is - how much does the tantric/vajrayana reliance on the Lama actually encourage this kind of thing?  While these types of scandals do happen everywhere in all walks of life - what disturbed a little me and other posters on here was the semi-justification by another Lama of Sogyal's actions - as I pointed out early on using quotes from the teachings that it is without question not ok.  It's this sneaking allowance or permissiveness that makes me uncomfortable about the whole thing.

 

It's a toxic combination of dodgy Lamas, naive students and tacit acceptance which ends up in a sorry mess.  

[C T]

A practitioner must not be caught in the dualistic sensory world of samsara; the victorious ones view samsara as a pure realm, devoid of seeming dualities. The manifestations of the five emotional poisons is the secret path to timeless awareness.

 

Such statements above, and others of a similar nature, are rife in the world of Vajrayana and tantric Buddhism. These can be easily manipulated by sleazy teachers and their ilk. Does it encourage inappropriate conduct? Personally, I think such statements must only reinforce exceptional and irreproachable conduct on both sides, otherwise the whole purpose of entering the 'swift path', which btw all mature students have been reminded can be dangerous, is defeated. 

[Wells]

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/A - Tibetan Buddhism/Authors/Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche/Approaching the Guru/Approaching the Guru.htm

"Putting the Guru to the Test

            The great vidyadhara Jigme Lingpa said that it is very important to analyze the guru first. As I said before, we are naturally very insecure people. Because of this we are easy prey. We make all sorts of mistakes that are difficult to clear up later on.
            Before you start to follow a guru, you should have a good understanding of the dharma. I don’t mean that you have to understand it completely, but at least you should have some understanding. You should analyze, and you should be skeptical and critical. Perhaps you should argue, and try to find fault by using logic and reflection.
            But while you are doing this, you should not have the journalist’s approach of looking for faults. The aim here is to find the path, not to find faults. So, when you study Buddhism, you should try to see whether this path suits you or not, whether this path makes sense or not. This is very important.
            Here’s an example. Let’s say that we want to go to New York, and we are hiring a guide. We need to have at least some idea where New York is. To take a guide without knowing whether New York is in the east, south or west is what I call the “inspirational disease.” It’s not enough just to find the guide attractive—to like the way he looks, talks and behaves. You should have at least some knowledge where New York is, so that if in the middle of the trip he begins to act a little funny, you feel okay because you know that you are heading in the right direction. He may lead you through strange or rough roads, but that doesn’t matter if you know you are heading in the right direction.
            On the other hand, if you don’t know the way at all, you are obliged to place all your trust in this one guide who claims that he can do anything. Maybe if you have lots of merit, you might accidentally find an authentic guide and actually reach New York. But if I were you I would not trust this kind of accidental success all the way. It is good to analyze the path first, and then you can have one or a hundred or thousands of gurus if you like."

Edited October 11, 2017 by Wells

[rex]

...

Edited April 3, 2018 by rex

[C T]

another one...

 

https://www.lionsroar.com/kagyu-thubten-choling-addresses-sangha-about-lama-norhla-rinpoches-sexual-misconduct-with-students/

[C T]

something positive and useful for Western students to bear in mind, by Dr. Miles Neale

 

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/student-teacher-relationships-go-awry-west/

[doc benway]

On 10/7/2017 at 11:54 PM, Wells said:

 

Absolutely not.

 

Please explain why my argument is mysogynistic in your opinion. You surely can do that if your attack is not a blind lashing out driven purely by an irrational identification with the women involved just because they are women and you are one too.

You may want to educate yourself a bit about the psychology of harassment and abuse, Wells. There is a lot of good information out there. It is far more subtle and insidious a problem than you seem to understand. 

 

Here's a good, simple starting point - https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_the_science_of_power_can_tell_us_about_sexual_harassment?utm_source=Greater+Good+Science+Center&utm_campaign=e2a1bb19a4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ae73e326e-e2a1bb19a4-51521023

 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:54 PM, Wells said:

How moronic has one to be to believe that one progresses towards enlightenment when one performs physical sexual services for a buddhist guru?

Verbally abusing victims is not becoming, Wells. 

Tibetan Buddhism is complex and exotic and there are practices that involve sexual acts. 

Being naive and malleable in the hands of a predator in a position of authority does not make the victims morons.

People sometimes do foolish things with good intentions. 

You yourself are guilty of that, as are we all. 

 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:54 PM, Wells said:

And what power are you talking about? Ridiculous! This guy had only the authority and power over these women which they fabricated and imaginated themselves in their own minds!

All authority and power is in the mind of those subjected to it.

There is no authority more powerful than spiritual authority to one who seeks spiritual guidance. 

 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:54 PM, Wells said:

Believing in tradition and lineage...?

Tradition and lineage are very valuable to many people and for good reason.

 

 

On 10/7/2017 at 11:54 PM, Wells said:

If that argument of yours is supposed to make any sense then you surely can quote widely established buddhist text sources which explicitly state that some beginner who is not an advanced and well prepared Tantra practitioner herself could achieve any spiritual development through performing sexual acts with a buddhist guru.

The fact is that tantric sexual practice is highly secretive. Very little is written about it other than in texts that are not available to the public and not available in English. These women had no way of knowing what real tantric practice is versus what Sogyal was telling them. Furthermore, the dynamics of sexual harassment make it very difficult for the victim to challenge the abuser. He may not even have made it about enlightenment, harassment and abuse is all about the power differential.

 

I hope you will try to look at victims of sexual abuse as human beings with feelings who were taken advantage of rather than morons who asked for it. You may have no frame of reference for empathizing with them but if you have any interest in spiritual growth, this is what it is all about. No one is deserving of such treatment. One way to try and see this is to contemplate one of the victims as being your daughter. Imagine your daughter, or another woman you deeply love, being taken in by a wily charlatan and predator, not necessarily spiritual - maybe in the workplace or academic setting. It is pervasive in our society. They are no less human or worthy of our compassion because they were duped. 

[Wells]

14 hours ago, steve said:

It is far more subtle and insidious a problem than you seem to understand.

 

Regarding what you wrote, what I understand is that you are rooted deeply in the egotistic worldview of dualistic grasping in all its coarse and subtle, concrete and abstract aspects and layers.

 

Edited October 21, 2017 by Wells

[doc benway]

2 hours ago, Wells said:

 

Regarding what you wrote, what I understand is that you are rooted deeply in the egotistic worldview of dualistic grasping in all its coarse and subtle, concrete and abstract aspects and layers.

 

 

No doubt about that.

I sincerely hope you will think a bit about the feelings of others. 

You are deserving of that blessing, as are they.

Warm regards

 

[flowing hands]

The path to true enlightenment is to let go of all desires, to free the mind and heart and so open it up to the higher truth. What we see here is a teacher who's spiritual development is just a black shadow, where the self and ego are still present. He has a long way to go and I feel sorry for those who have been caught in such an abusive and corrupt trap.